Rate My Professor Sara Hodges

Sara D. Hodges is a Professor and Department Head in the Department of Psychology at the University of Oregon, where she has been on the faculty since 1995. She earned her BA from Rhodes College in 1989 and her PhD from the University of Virginia in 1995. Dr. Hodges directs the Social Cognition Lab and conducts research in social and personality psychology. Her work explores how people construct understandings of other people, with a focus on perspective taking, empathic accuracy—inferring others' thoughts and feelings in real time—the roles of the self, context, and other information sources in forming that understanding, social comparison processes, and judgment. She examines when people are motivated to take others' perspectives, how accurate they are, the strategies such as social comparison and projection used in the process, and the consequences of perspective taking. Dr. Hodges also investigates how people use self-information in social comparisons and highlights both the cleverness and shortcomings of human cognitive strategies.

Selected publications include "Exploring actual and presumed links between accurately inferring others’ minds and prosocial outcomes" (Hodges, Kezer, Hall, & Vorauer, 2024, Journal of Intelligence), "Motivation and empathic accuracy during conflict interactions in couples: It’s complicated!" (Berlamont et al., 2023, Motivation and Emotion), "When polarization triggers out-group 'counter-projection' across the political divide" (Denning & Hodges, 2022, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin), "Giving birth to empathy: The effects of similar experience on empathic accuracy, empathic concern, and perceived empathy" (Hodges et al., 2010, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin), and the co-edited volume Other Minds: How Humans Bridge the Divide between Self and Others (Hodges & Malle, 2005, Guilford Press). Earlier highly cited papers are "Introspecting about reasons can reduce post-choice satisfaction" (Wilson et al., 1993, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin) and "Gender differences, motivation, and empathic accuracy: When it pays to understand" (Klein & Hodges, 2001, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin). Dr. Hodges teaches Psy 202 Mind & Society and Psy 410 Peer Lab Training. She is a recipient of the University of Oregon Herman Award for distinguished teaching and Williams Fellowship, attends annual Psych One conferences, participates in the Science Literacy Program’s journal club, and conducts peer teaching evaluations.